How to Divide English Words Into Syllables?
amyparkington
Hi!
I speak English as a second language. Does anyone know a fun way to
learn to divide English words into syllables?
Thank you for your help!
Amy
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
I speak English as a second language. Does anyone know a fun way to
learn to divide English words into syllables?
Thank you for your help!
Amy
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Gwen Montoya
I think the old Electric Company had a bit where they pushed words together. And Between the Lions has a cool bit where knights run into each other to push words together. Both are shows are available on DVD.
Gwen
Gwen
On Oct 7, 2012, at 10:28 AM, "amyparkington" <amyparkington@...> wrote:
> Hi!
> I speak English as a second language. Does anyone know a fun way to
> learn to divide English words into syllables?
> Thank you for your help!
> Amy
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>
>
> ------------------------------------
>
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>
Sandra Dodd
-=-I speak English as a second language. Does anyone know a fun way to
learn to divide English words into syllables?-=-
I let this question through even though it has absolutely nothing on earth to do with unschooling. How's that for being an autocratic list owner? :-)
Here's why I did. Dividing words into syllables is a dying art, because people don't hyphenate by hand anymore. People hardly write by hand, and fewer books are hyphenated, and I think webpages are never, ever hyphenated (meaning words broken at the end of a line to get more text on a page).
Just this week (in the chat maybe? somewhere) someone was talking about typing class, and "keyboarding" and said there couldn't possibly be that much to learn. No, there was a TON to learn in typing classes in typewriter days. One thing was hyphenization in documents and letters, which involved knowing exactly how and where to divide words.
So, Amy....
Why do you need to know and what's your native language?
I really want to respond, but I want to try to aim at the point.
The two simplest guidelines are that if it's a compound word (from Germanic) divide between words.
out-house
book-case
Otherwise, divide between consonants if it's not a blended sound. Let affixes be alone (-ly or -ing).
Hyphenation of words is the only really practical purpose of "syllabification," as far as I know, within the language. I suppose for learning it as a second language, it's for analyzing the parts of words and the emphasis for pronunciations.
Sandra
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
learn to divide English words into syllables?-=-
I let this question through even though it has absolutely nothing on earth to do with unschooling. How's that for being an autocratic list owner? :-)
Here's why I did. Dividing words into syllables is a dying art, because people don't hyphenate by hand anymore. People hardly write by hand, and fewer books are hyphenated, and I think webpages are never, ever hyphenated (meaning words broken at the end of a line to get more text on a page).
Just this week (in the chat maybe? somewhere) someone was talking about typing class, and "keyboarding" and said there couldn't possibly be that much to learn. No, there was a TON to learn in typing classes in typewriter days. One thing was hyphenization in documents and letters, which involved knowing exactly how and where to divide words.
So, Amy....
Why do you need to know and what's your native language?
I really want to respond, but I want to try to aim at the point.
The two simplest guidelines are that if it's a compound word (from Germanic) divide between words.
out-house
book-case
Otherwise, divide between consonants if it's not a blended sound. Let affixes be alone (-ly or -ing).
Hyphenation of words is the only really practical purpose of "syllabification," as far as I know, within the language. I suppose for learning it as a second language, it's for analyzing the parts of words and the emphasis for pronunciations.
Sandra
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Sandra Dodd
Oh, right--Gwen. "Gawain's Word" (making fun of "Wayne's World" from Saturday Night Live). But they weren't doing syllables. Just phonemes (sounds).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-6Zq2eYUn9Q
There's one. :-)
Wet. Only one syllable. Syllables can have parts, but as sound goes, as the rhythm of language goes, they become one "beat."
My full name when I was little was Sandra Lynn Adams. Five syllables.
My Papaw, my mom's dad, pronounced it with his West Texas drawl and could get five syllables out of just "Sandra Lynn" (which is what he called me). It took him a long time to say it, too. That dialect/accent is very slow in the air. The word for that division of a syllable into two sounds is "dipthong." It would end up sounding (slowly) kind of like "SAY ahn druh LEE in." Okay, not kind of. Exactly like that. And you probably read it too quickly.
Sandra
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-6Zq2eYUn9Q
There's one. :-)
Wet. Only one syllable. Syllables can have parts, but as sound goes, as the rhythm of language goes, they become one "beat."
My full name when I was little was Sandra Lynn Adams. Five syllables.
My Papaw, my mom's dad, pronounced it with his West Texas drawl and could get five syllables out of just "Sandra Lynn" (which is what he called me). It took him a long time to say it, too. That dialect/accent is very slow in the air. The word for that division of a syllable into two sounds is "dipthong." It would end up sounding (slowly) kind of like "SAY ahn druh LEE in." Okay, not kind of. Exactly like that. And you probably read it too quickly.
Sandra
amyparkington
I hope I can explain this clear since Spanish is my first language. I live in the USA.
Sometimes my daughter's cousins brag about what they are learning in school. Homophones, verbs, syllables, etc. Sometimes they ask "what's your favorite subject?, name a category, etc."
My daughter gets mad because she doesn't understand what they are talking about.
I got the workbook Language Smarts level D from the Critical Thinking company so my daughter looks knowledgeable in front on my in-laws and friends. In the workbook there are some exercises about dividing syllables.
Words like: Choc-o-late, tel-e-vi-sion, or-ange.
I got anxiety about learning how to divide syllables since English is my Second Language.
My daughter learned to read by memorizing words. She had a hard time learning phonics. When she finds a new word she doesn't know how to sound it out. My husband is American and he thinks that by learning to divide words in syllables it might help our daughter decipher new words and help her spelling.
It is a relief to hear Sandra say that dividing words into syllables is a dying art, because people don't hyphenate by hand anymore.
Thank you for your help.
Amy
Sometimes my daughter's cousins brag about what they are learning in school. Homophones, verbs, syllables, etc. Sometimes they ask "what's your favorite subject?, name a category, etc."
My daughter gets mad because she doesn't understand what they are talking about.
I got the workbook Language Smarts level D from the Critical Thinking company so my daughter looks knowledgeable in front on my in-laws and friends. In the workbook there are some exercises about dividing syllables.
Words like: Choc-o-late, tel-e-vi-sion, or-ange.
I got anxiety about learning how to divide syllables since English is my Second Language.
My daughter learned to read by memorizing words. She had a hard time learning phonics. When she finds a new word she doesn't know how to sound it out. My husband is American and he thinks that by learning to divide words in syllables it might help our daughter decipher new words and help her spelling.
It is a relief to hear Sandra say that dividing words into syllables is a dying art, because people don't hyphenate by hand anymore.
Thank you for your help.
Amy
--- In [email protected], Sandra Dodd <Sandra@...> wrote:
>
> -=-I speak English as a second language. Does anyone know a fun way to
> learn to divide English words into syllables?-=-
>
> I let this question through even though it has absolutely nothing on earth to do with unschooling. How's that for being an autocratic list owner? :-)
>
> Here's why I did. Dividing words into syllables is a dying art, because people don't hyphenate by hand anymore. People hardly write by hand, and fewer books are hyphenated, and I think webpages are never, ever hyphenated (meaning words broken at the end of a line to get more text on a page).
>
> Just this week (in the chat maybe? somewhere) someone was talking about typing class, and "keyboarding" and said there couldn't possibly be that much to learn. No, there was a TON to learn in typing classes in typewriter days. One thing was hyphenization in documents and letters, which involved knowing exactly how and where to divide words.
>
> So, Amy....
> Why do you need to know and what's your native language?
>
> I really want to respond, but I want to try to aim at the point.
>
> The two simplest guidelines are that if it's a compound word (from Germanic) divide between words.
> out-house
> book-case
>
> Otherwise, divide between consonants if it's not a blended sound. Let affixes be alone (-ly or -ing).
>
> Hyphenation of words is the only really practical purpose of "syllabification," as far as I know, within the language. I suppose for learning it as a second language, it's for analyzing the parts of words and the emphasis for pronunciations.
>
> Sandra
>
>
>
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
D. Regan
On 08/10/2012, at 6:47 AM, Sandra Dodd wrote:
:-)
Debbie.
> The word for that division of a syllable into two sounds is "dipthong."When I read "dipthong", I wondered if it was one of the many words spelt differently in US English from the Australian English that I know, because I'm used to "diphthong". I looked it up and learned that the root of the second syllable is the Greek word "phthongos" meaning "sound", so there are diphthongs and triphthongs and my favourite, monophthongs!
:-)
Debbie.
Sandra Dodd
-=-and my favourite, monophthongs-=-
Like those teeny bikini bottoms? :-)
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Like those teeny bikini bottoms? :-)
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Meredith
Sandra Dodd <Sandra@...> wrote:
Poetry! Which, arguably, isn't terribly practical ;)
But reciting poems and singing songs is a good way to play with syllables. I happen to have a song stuck in my head right now which is a great example: "You Make me Feel" by Cobra Starship. They even break one word down into syllables for effect:
""Everything you want so let me get up there
I'm the baddest baby in the at.mos.phere
Tell me what you want so we can do just what you like""
oh gosh, then there's the chorus:
"You make me feel so
La la la la la"
Five syllables, then five syllables.
---Meredith
>> Hyphenation of words is the only really practical purpose of "syllabification," as far as I know, within the language.*************
Poetry! Which, arguably, isn't terribly practical ;)
But reciting poems and singing songs is a good way to play with syllables. I happen to have a song stuck in my head right now which is a great example: "You Make me Feel" by Cobra Starship. They even break one word down into syllables for effect:
""Everything you want so let me get up there
I'm the baddest baby in the at.mos.phere
Tell me what you want so we can do just what you like""
oh gosh, then there's the chorus:
"You make me feel so
La la la la la"
Five syllables, then five syllables.
---Meredith
Schuyler
Ahh, but a thong here is a flip flop. So, like a solo bit of footwear.
Schuyler
________________________________
From: Sandra Dodd <Sandra@...>
To: [email protected]
Sent: Tuesday, 9 October 2012, 2:46
Subject: Re: [AlwaysLearning] How to Divide English Words Into Syllables?
-=-and my favourite, monophthongs-=-
Like those teeny bikini bottoms? :-)
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
------------------------------------
Yahoo! Groups Links
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Schuyler
________________________________
From: Sandra Dodd <Sandra@...>
To: [email protected]
Sent: Tuesday, 9 October 2012, 2:46
Subject: Re: [AlwaysLearning] How to Divide English Words Into Syllables?
-=-and my favourite, monophthongs-=-
Like those teeny bikini bottoms? :-)
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
------------------------------------
Yahoo! Groups Links
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Gwen Montoya
My girls just discovered the Gangham style video (by a Korean rapper named Psy). They are having fun finding spoofs of it. Annoying Orange has one called Nya Nya Style. I'm sure I'll be hearing more over the next couple of days!
Gwen
Gwen
On Oct 8, 2012, at 3:17 PM, "Meredith" <plaidpanties666@...> wrote:
> Sandra Dodd <Sandra@...> wrote:
>>> Hyphenation of words is the only really practical purpose of "syllabification," as far as I know, within the language.
> *************
>
> Poetry! Which, arguably, isn't terribly practical ;)
> But reciting poems and singing songs is a good way to play with syllables. I happen to have a song stuck in my head right now which is a great example: "You Make me Feel" by Cobra Starship. They even break one word down into syllables for effect:
>
> ""Everything you want so let me get up there
> I'm the baddest baby in the at.mos.phere
> Tell me what you want so we can do just what you like""
>
> oh gosh, then there's the chorus:
>
> "You make me feel so
> La la la la la"
>
> Five syllables, then five syllables.
>
> ---Meredith
>
>
>
> ------------------------------------
>
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>
Sandra Dodd
Poetry and song lyrics need the number of syllables, but not the dividing place between them.
Robin Bentley
Have they found this:
http://theweek.com/article/index/233651/gangnam-style-the-8-best-parodies-of-the-viral-video
and this:
http://www.collegehumor.com/video/6830834/mitt-romney-style-gangnam-style-parody
and I love this bento box:
http://knowyourmeme.com/photos/399284-gangnam-style
(All on my FB page - I love "Gangnam Style" <g>)
Robin B.
http://theweek.com/article/index/233651/gangnam-style-the-8-best-parodies-of-the-viral-video
and this:
http://www.collegehumor.com/video/6830834/mitt-romney-style-gangnam-style-parody
and I love this bento box:
http://knowyourmeme.com/photos/399284-gangnam-style
(All on my FB page - I love "Gangnam Style" <g>)
Robin B.
> My girls just discovered the Gangham style video (by a Korean rapper
> named Psy). They are having fun finding spoofs of it. Annoying
> Orange has one called Nya Nya Style. I'm sure I'll be hearing more
> over the next couple of days!
>
> Gwen
>
>
Sandra Dodd
Look for the Ellen show, when Britney Spears wanted to learn the dance. I'm not going to say more. It's cool.
Sandra Dodd
-=-I got the workbook Language Smarts level D from the Critical Thinking company so my daughter looks knowledgeable in front on my in-laws and friends. In the workbook there are some exercises about dividing syllables.
Words like: Choc-o-late, tel-e-vi-sion, or-ange.
I got anxiety about learning how to divide syllables since English is my Second Language. -=-
OH!
Okay. You can probably find "the rules" in that book, then, or with a web search.
Each syllable needs a vowel. Divide between consonants if the consonants aren't a blend. If there's a double letter, split between them.
syl-la-ble (not syl-lab-le or it would go "sy-lab-LEE)
con-son-ants
let-ter
dou-ble
You can usually look in a paper dictionary (maybe online dictionaries, too) and they'll have the divided there.
I'm looking at other words in the e-mail. Not all are clear. Some are.
work-book is simple.
an-xi-e-ty (maybe I'm right and maybe I'm not) isn't so obvious.
Sandra
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Words like: Choc-o-late, tel-e-vi-sion, or-ange.
I got anxiety about learning how to divide syllables since English is my Second Language. -=-
OH!
Okay. You can probably find "the rules" in that book, then, or with a web search.
Each syllable needs a vowel. Divide between consonants if the consonants aren't a blend. If there's a double letter, split between them.
syl-la-ble (not syl-lab-le or it would go "sy-lab-LEE)
con-son-ants
let-ter
dou-ble
You can usually look in a paper dictionary (maybe online dictionaries, too) and they'll have the divided there.
I'm looking at other words in the e-mail. Not all are clear. Some are.
work-book is simple.
an-xi-e-ty (maybe I'm right and maybe I'm not) isn't so obvious.
Sandra
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Meredith
"amyparkington" <amyparkington@...> wrote:
That's pretty common - some people can't use phonetic information to decode words until they've been reading comfortably for awhile, and some people prefer to use context clues rather than trying to figure out how to "sound out" words. In fact, it's very common for people who enjoy reading to have a larger print vocabulary than they can actually use when they speak - I'm one of those ;) I know more words than I can say because when I come across a new word in print I figure out the meaning and don't worry about how it's pronounced.
If your daughter runs into a word she doesn't know, it's okay to tell her what it is, if you know it. It will help her more than coaxing her to sound it out - she'll be more likely to remember it next time she sees it.
Your husband has half a good idea, though ;) It can be helpful for some people to look for smaller words inside large words to help remember how to spell them. The syllables aren't as important as looking for some kind of meaningful cue for memory. When people complain my name is hard to spell, for instance, I can point out it contains another name: Edith. But that won't help if you meet someone who spells it differently ;)
---Meredith
>> My daughter learned to read by memorizing words. She had a hard time learning phonics. When she finds a new word she doesn't know how to sound it out.******************
That's pretty common - some people can't use phonetic information to decode words until they've been reading comfortably for awhile, and some people prefer to use context clues rather than trying to figure out how to "sound out" words. In fact, it's very common for people who enjoy reading to have a larger print vocabulary than they can actually use when they speak - I'm one of those ;) I know more words than I can say because when I come across a new word in print I figure out the meaning and don't worry about how it's pronounced.
If your daughter runs into a word she doesn't know, it's okay to tell her what it is, if you know it. It will help her more than coaxing her to sound it out - she'll be more likely to remember it next time she sees it.
> Words like: Choc-o-lateOooooh, that's one where the "right" way to break it down in print doesn't reflect the way it's pronounced in some places - so if someone wanted to use it in a poem or song, it could just as easily have two syllables as three: choc'late.
Your husband has half a good idea, though ;) It can be helpful for some people to look for smaller words inside large words to help remember how to spell them. The syllables aren't as important as looking for some kind of meaningful cue for memory. When people complain my name is hard to spell, for instance, I can point out it contains another name: Edith. But that won't help if you meet someone who spells it differently ;)
---Meredith
Sandra Dodd
-=-The syllables aren't as important as looking for some kind of meaningful cue for memory.-=-
Morpheme.
For people who like technical terminology as proof of learning, the meaningful bits of words are "morphemes."
Oh, here's something cool about morphemes! http://www.cognatarium.com/cognatarium/
And the sound-bits of words are phoneme.
Syllables aren't usually phonemes by themselves unless they're one vowel sound. Phonemes are the sounds written out in weird symbols by linguists and people who study dialects, or some older dictionaries.
Sandra
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Morpheme.
For people who like technical terminology as proof of learning, the meaningful bits of words are "morphemes."
Oh, here's something cool about morphemes! http://www.cognatarium.com/cognatarium/
And the sound-bits of words are phoneme.
Syllables aren't usually phonemes by themselves unless they're one vowel sound. Phonemes are the sounds written out in weird symbols by linguists and people who study dialects, or some older dictionaries.
Sandra
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]